ECG to meet workers union today after PDS termination – Deputy Energy Min.

Deputy Energy Minister, William Owuraku Aidoo has said the Electricity Company of Ghana (ECG) will today meet the workers union and general workers body of Power Distribution Services (PDS) to explain the details of the takeover of full assets back to ECG following the termination of the PDS concessionaire agreement by the Government.

The minister during a press conference in Accra on Wednesday explained that once there was no transfer and demand guarantees in place as of March 1, 2019, the workers of PDS will still remain the workers of ECG.

“ECG will today meet the workers union and general workers body to further explain to them the details of the take over,” he added.

According to him, the Sales and Retail of Energy License of PDS will today October 23, be terminated by the Energy Commission to allow ECG to take back full control of assets.

Background

Government made the decision on Saturday, October 19, to terminate the concessionaire agreement with Power Distribution Services Ltd (PDS) due to a careful legal review on the validity of demand guarantees after earlier rewarding the contract to Philippines based company, Meralco Consortium.

However, a statement issued by the US Embassy on Wednesday said the “United States of America notes this decision [termination of the PDS contract] with regret based on the conclusions of the independent forensic investigation, the U.S. position is that the transfer of operations, maintenance, and management of ECG to the PDS on March 1, 2019, was valid, and therefore the termination was unwarranted”

“As such, Millennium Challenge Corporation (MCC) has confirmed that the US$190 million funds granted to Ghana at the March 1 transfer to the 20-year concession from ECG to PDS are no longer available,” the statement added.